Page 76 of Biker's Prisoner: Property of Bucky

I’ll be honest,though.

It’s takenme by surprise that the woman he ended up falling into bed with is this one. She’s not as dark as Tamiya, but her skin is a definitive brown color and she has wild, curly hair that she doesn’t bother to subdue. She’sblack– and I thought that was something Ruger always hated.

Tamiya and I might be operating under a mistaken assumption here. Maybe Ruger didn’t cast a spell on Zayna.

She’sthe one who cast a spell on him.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Zayna

Ihave to confess the truth to Gideon Blackwood and his wife, Tamiya. But it’s not easy to face the truth. I handle the awkwardness the same way I handled all the awkwardness with Ruger. I take some salmon out of the freezer and prepare it for dinner. Ruger at least left fish, but I needed more diapers, food for Eden, and seasoning. Ruger refuses to believe that anyone uses seasoning “that quickly” while cooking.

Gideon takes the dog for a walk while I cook and Tamiya holds Eden. She’s grown a lot over the past few weeks. Tamiya holding her makes me nervous in a way I didn’t expect. I feel like Eden’s mine. Which makes the prospect of Ruger’s return that much worse. I can steel myself up to leave Ruger, but how the hell can I leave Eden?

She just feels like a part of my life.

I know nowthat I’m alone with Tamiya, she’ll want to know more about “the situation” between me and Ruger. I took one look at Gideon and shuddered, so maybe she’ll understand how I could meet a man with his ex-wife’s blood on his hands and end up in his bed. Tamiya is a private investigator and I’ve beenliving here for weeks, so I assume she has our entire relationship pieced together. She even looks at me like a cop. I met enough of them after the incident in Boston.

If Tamiya weren’t so friendly, her gaze would be almost unnerving.

“Where did Ruger go?” she says. “You say you don’t know and I think that’s half true.”

“He went to kill somebody.”

“Grant.”

I know my guilty ass flinches. I haven’t ever been onthisside of an investigation. I turn to look at Tamiya and the grin plastered across her face betrays my failure to hide my feelings. I should have expected her to be five steps ahead and not just three.

What’s the point in lying now?

“Yes.”

“But that’s not the problem between you?”

“No.”

Then she surprises meagain.She can’t really besixsteps ahead.

“It’s romantic when you think about it.”

She smirks – it’s a smirk, but it’s sincere.

“Murder?”

Ruger doing this for me is practical from my perspective. I get to benefit from the dark urges he can’t seem to hide. I wouldn’t call murdering your prisoner’s rapistsromantic.

“Hunting them down. Killing them to make it look like a suicide.”

“Theyweresuicides.”

“It’s brilliant,” Tamiya continues, incapable of hiding her genuine admiration. “How could they ever live with what they did? Nobody mourns them. Not even their parents.”

I turn my back and put the cuts of salmon on a baking tray, paying excessive attention to the distance between each cut. I’m even cooking a piece for Zeus. Tamiya doesn’t let me get away that easily. I should have expected as much.

“What’s the problem? Why did he leave you here with the baby and the dog?”

She’s wondering what I’m wondering.Is he going to come back?

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